What is “Academic Writing and Research”?

What does “academic writing and research” actually mean? The answers vary depending on the specific fields and traditions of individual academic disciplines, as well as on the personal opinions and attitudes of researchers and university faculty.

 Characteristics of Academic Writing and Research

• Scientific work is systematic, meaning it follows established methods, processes, and techniques that are reliable and valid. 
• Scientific work is objective, meaning that you approach the research task with detachment and address it without emotional reasoning, preconceived opinions, or biases.
• Scientific work is transparent, meaning that your results and findings clearly emerge from the research findings you have developed and your critical engagement with the state of scientific research in your field.
• Scientific work is well-founded, meaning that your work defines key terms and concepts and builds upon existing knowledge and the current state of research in your field.
• Scientific work is relevant and current, meaning that you address questions that make a (new) contribution to the state of knowledge and progress in your field. This relevance is demonstrated through an overview of the state of research and the open questions still to be addressed in the literature review section of your work. 
• Scientific work aims for generalizable results, which means that you strive for a certain degree of “universal validity” in your research findings. This degree will vary depending on the research question, but it is important that you define the scope of your findings’ validity.
• Scientific work follows the rules of academic integrity, which means that you handle the ideas of others honestly, avoid plagiarism, and consider and address ethical issues appropriately.

• Scientific work follows a set of formal criteria, which we will examine in more detail in this course.

Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., & Lewis, P. (2019). Research Methods for Business Students (8th ed.).Pearson.

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 Common knowledge vs. scientific knowledge - a definitional distinction

From childhood onward, we all engage in inquiry, discovering the world around us, and gradually, as our experience grows, we build up our understanding of the world in which we live. Scientists essentially operate in the same way, but they have different standards. 

The following table, based on Bieker (2011, p. 5), shows the most important differences, as well as the similarities, between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge. 

Yet common knowledge and scientific knowledge also share some commonalities:

• In both cases, knowledge is based on observation or experience.
• Experiences are organized, and new experiences are compared with existing ones.
• Observations give rise to theories in the sense of generalizable assumptions about social reality.
• Knowledge is used to explain observations, predict events, and serve as a basis for action.
• Knowledge can be true or false.
• Knowledge can be more or less useful.

 Further literature

 Structure of a scientific paper

Similar to a literary text, a scientific paper is also composed of an introduction, main body and conclusion. These parts include the following aspects:

Literature research

The basis of a scientific paper is high-quality literature sources and empirically founded results. At the beginning of every writing process, there is always a detailed and structured literature search. In order to be able to reflect the current state of research on the chosen topic as accurately as possible in the scientific paper, it is advised to search strategically and systematically for legitimate sources.

Basically, both printed and online sources can be considered for the scientific work. Especially textbooks from publishers are also available online. You are welcome to take a look at the MCI's e-Library. There you have access to all online resources and databases of the MCI. For further questions about literature research, Citavi and plagiarism, please contact your librarians. They will be happy to help and support you (bibliothek@mci.edu).

When assessing whether a source is suitable, the following aspects should be considered:When assessing whether a source is suitable, the following aspects should be considered:

• The scientific influence of a source: the Science Citation Index indicates how often a source has already been cited,
  i.e. the higher this factor, the better

• Publisher: Well-known publishers, such as Springer Verlag or Pearson, are considered to be well-known publishers of
  textbooks and scientific texts

• Author: Authors who publish several papers are considered experts in their field.

• Peer review of the source: Reputable scientific sources are often subject to a peer review process, i.e. other independent
  researchers anonymously assess the quality and reliability of the research. This can ensure the highest level of scientific integrity.

Deep Reading

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What does deep reading mean?

Do you wonder why some people can keep track even with so many pages of scientific text? Why others are faster at reading and can reproduce what they have read at the end?

What distinguishes you from these readers? Readers who are able to deep-read ...

• are aware of why they are reading a text.
• make connections between what they already know and new information in the text.
• use context to understand unfamiliar concepts.
• take notes and underline passages in the text.
• evaluate the quality of the text and question it.
• can identify and reproduce important statements in the text.
• think about how they can apply and use the information.

Comprehension = active reading

Reading is often understood as a passive process that involves only recognizing and receiving words.

Deep reading, however, requires active mental work if what is read is not only to be recognized and, at best, absorbed into short-term memory, but also retained and understood.

Activate your knowledge!

When prior knowledge and experience are actively connected to the text to be read, the likelihood of retaining new information increases significantly, as the content can be integrated into already established cognitive structures. One effective strategy is to conduct a brief brainstorming session on the topic in advance, noting and categorizing relevant concepts or associations that come to mind. If substantial prior knowledge already exists, it may also be beneficial to formulate a series of guiding questions before engaging with the material, thereby enhancing attentional focus and promoting purposeful reading. Writing these questions down can further support the learning process. In addition, a preliminary scan of the text may help prepare for a more focused and reflective engagement with the content.

Please refer to following steps:

• What do I know about the topic already?
• Brainstorming: What is new and interesting?
• What else does interest me?

The SQ3R reading method for scientific texts

This method is not about increasing the reading speed, but rather about understanding the content and being able to remember it in the long term. 
 

Survey - Question - Read - Recite

Formal guidelines (general)

Scientific papers are to be designed in a formally uniform manner. On the one hand, this makes it much easier to read, and on the other hand, it makes the work more comparable.

Citation

When writing scientific papers, one usually refers to existing research and thus bases one's work on the thoughts and results of other authors. This is particularly evident in the literature and methods sections. In general, a distinction is made between primary and secondary sources:

In the citation style, the difference between primary and secondary sources is often made clear by citing primary sources directly, while for secondary sources the author of the secondary source is cited, who refers to the primary source.
However, this can quickly result in errors. In the worst case, this can lead to plagiarism - that is, intellectual property theft or copyright infringement. But how can plagiarism be avoided? Simple. There are many different citation styles based on the respective guidelines of journals or publishers, such as APA or the Havard style.

In the following, the APA citation style with its guidelines as one of the most widespread citation styles will be explained in more detail.

APA Basics

The APA citation style, developed by the American Psychological Association, is one of the most widely used methods for citing in scientific papers, especially in the social sciences and economics. It is characterized by clear guidelines for presenting sources, which helps your readers more easily track the information used. This precision and uniformity make APA style particularly popular, as it promotes the accuracy and credibility of scientific writing, allowing you to communicate thoughts and research findings effectively.

Citing in continous text:

If citations are made in the continuous text, a distinction is made between direct citations and indirect citations. Direct citations are taken directly from the original source and marked with the corresponding page number. Indirect citations, on the other hand, are paraphrased in the continuous text.

The following examples refer to the APA citation style:

# direct citation: "If  we only take aspects of intentional (goal-oriented) learning into consideration, the general concept of learning motivation refers to the
fact that a learner has an actualized wish or intention to engage in a  specific learning activity (Krapp, 1999, p. 27).

# indirect citation: Learning motivation in terms of goal-oriented learning is demonstrated by the learner's willingness to consciously and purposefully focus
on a particular learning activity or subject area (Krapp, 1999).

Please note: Two authors are separated by "&", from a number of three authors, the first author is named and "et al." is added!

# two authors: The psychological construct of motivation can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. While the action itself provides the incentive
for intrinsically motivated individuals, an extrinsically motivated action is usually linked to certain conditions or certain intentions are pursued.(Deci & Ryan, 2000).

# more authors: Motivational regulation strategies are learning approaches that aim to increase one's effort and persistence in a learning task. In contrast to
cognitive (e.g., information intake) and metacognitive (e.g., learning control) learning strategies, these focus on increasing one's motivation and persistence
without focusing on the nature of learning or learning planning (Schwinger et al., 2007).

Creating the bibliography:

The bibliography at the end lists all sources used for the scientific paper. The following should be noted:

• The sources are listed alphabetically

• If available include the DOI (Digital Object Finder)

• The list indentation in the bibliography is hanging

• All authors are named with their last name and the first letter of their first name. If there are more than 21 authors, they are abbreviated with .... and the last author is named.

Example of a bibliography:

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). Die Selbstbestimmungstheorie der Motivation und ihre Bedeutung für die Pädagogik. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 39(2), 223–238. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:11173

Krapp, A. (1992). Interesse, Lernen und Leistung. Neuere Forschungsansätze in der Pädagogischen Psychologie. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 38(5), 747–770.

Schwinger, M., von der Laden, T., Spinath, B. (2007). Strategien zur Motivationsregulation und ihre Erfassung. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 39(2), 57–69.
         https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637.39.2.57

Citation software

Citation software programs such as Zotero or Citavi are essential tools for students, researchers and scientists who want to optimize their source management and citation practices. These high-performance programs make it possible to organize literature efficiently, automatically create correct citations and bibliography, and thus greatly simplify the research and writing process.

The two programs differ in a few ways:

Despite the differences, there are also some similarities between the two programs:

• Both programs allow automatic creation of citations and bibliographies in different citation styles.
• They offer options for organizing and managing literature and sources.
• Both Zotero and Citavi support adding annotations to sources.
• Both have interfaces for integration with common word processing programs such as Microsoft Word.

Scientific Research with AI

To address the use of AI in the context of academic work, it is first and foremost important to understand the significance of academic work in higher education in general. Academic work at universities is intended to serve several purposes:

• Writing as a learning tool (reading notes, lecture notes, etc.)
• Writing as a learning and assessment tool (seminar papers, theses, presentations, etc.)
• Writing as scientific communication (dissertations, research papers, etc.)
• Writing as a medium of disciplinary socialization (learning to think and act as is customary in the respective discipline (Carter 2007))
• Writing as a medium of academic socialization (the journey from knowledge recipient to knowledge producer (Römmer-Nossek, Unterpertinger & Rismondo 2019, Tremp 2022))

(Buck, I., Limburg, A. (2023, June 14). Academic Work and Academic Socialization in the Context of AI Language Tools [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ul1ZZPocA)

Thus, even in the future, it will not be sufficient to have academic papers generated purely by AI in order to meet the learning objectives associated with academic work. However, AI can help you achieve these learning objectives more easily or more effectively.

How to correctly cite the use of generative AI?

As with physical textbooks, journal articles, and online sources, AI-generated content and text should also be properly acknowledged. There are various approaches to this, which may differ depending on the university, degree program, or citation style. Several aspects are particularly relevant when citing AI-generated content:

• What? First, it is important to specify which parts of the work were created using AI, such as text, figures, tables, or datasets.
   
• Which tools? It should also be stated which AI tools were used. This includes, for example, the provider, the specific model, and, if applicable, a link to the system used.
   
• When? The temporal context is equally important. This includes information such as the date the tool was used and, where relevant, the model version.
   
• How? Another key aspect concerns how the tool was used. It should be transparent how the AI tool was applied (specific use case), for example by providing the prompts that were used.

Some universities agree that, in addition to marking AI-generated text within the main body of the work, a prompt log and/or an AI usage statement should be included to disclose the tools used and how they were applied. This could be structured as follows:

Marking of AI generated texts in the continous text
xxx... (OpenAI, 2024)
xxx... (based on OpenAI, 2024)
 

Prompt list:
ChatGPT (June 28, 2023): "Write a summary on topic XY", used on page 28 / used under chapter 5.2.

 

AI list